Words To Me
by HPtwilightfanatic
Summary: Annabeth and Percy both are hiding their feelings for eachother. And they don't want to confess, to ruin the friendship. Their friends and family cook up a little plan to bring them together. Percabeth!
1. Chapter 1

"Aphrodite, what is this about?" Athena asked.

Said goddess, the Goddess of Love, danced in front of Athena, making her way towards one of the many halls of the Great Palace of Olympus.

"You'll see!" she sang to the Goddess of Wisdom.

They turned into the big doorway, heading into the huge room, footsteps echoing. In the middle of the room was a middle aged man, with bright green eyes.

"Athena." he greeted stiffly.

"Poseidon." Athena nodded politely to the God of the Sea.

Aphrodite went to the opposite side of the table, turning to face the other two gods.

"What is the meaning of this Aphrodite?" Poseidon asked, impatience filling his voice.

Athena's facial expression showed she was wondering the same thing.

Aphrodite shot them a knowing grin. "Oh you'll see, you'll see." still in that sing-song voice.

She snapped her fingers and a screen like mist appeared on the table, with the scene of a seventeen year old girl walking into a house, her backpack slung on her shoulder.


	2. Annabeth's Percy Problem

"Stupid boys. Stupid Seaweed Brain." Seventeen year old Annabeth Chase whispered, choking back tears as she slammed her front door behind her. She ignored her two half brothers, Matthew and Bobby, demanding to be paid attention to, and ran up the stairs to her bedroom.

Her bedroom was her only sanctuary besides Camp Half-Blood. Dropping her backpack on the floor and slamming her bedroom door behind her, she collapsed on her bed, the waterfall now threatening to spill over. She turned on her back, looking around her room, specifically at the picture on her bedside table.

It was of a two twelve year olds, a boy and a girl. The girl, herself, had a orange Camp Half-Blood shirt on, her blue New York Yankees cap in her hand, and her blonde hair in a ponytail. The boy, Percy Jackson. his black hair sweeping across his forehead, and his green, fathomless eyes smiling. He was in a normal blue t-shirt, with a navy blue zip up sweatshirt over it. They both had necklaces with bright colored beads on them, but the girl had quite a few more than he did, the boy only having one, with a gold lighting bolt on it.

Annabeth glared at the boy, who was now seventeen, like her, but now an idiotic Seaweed Brain. Well, he actually had been the whole time, but now he was even more. Her mind tortured her with pictures of him and a red haired girl, laughing.

"Stupid Rachel Elizabeth Dare." she whispered at the blank white ceiling.

Stupid everyone. Stupid Percy, for not noticing her feelings, and stupid Rachel for liking him.

Why did it have to be so complicated? She was a daughter of Athena! Why couldn't she go right up to him and say, "Perseus Jackson, I love you." but she couldn't. She didn't know why either. It was just, whenever she saw him, a lump formed in her throat that wouldn't let her say what was on her mind. She could never say what she wanted to him. And it seemed he didn't even care. Not one bit.

Nope. He hadn't even come to see her. She even lived closer now! In Queens for Gods sake! And did he come visit her? Nope. Did he call her? Not a chance in the Underworld. She hadn't seen him since last summer at camp and that was six months ago.

"Annabeth?" her step mother, Adrian called from down a level. Annabeth ignored it, and kept staring at the ceiling.

"Annabeth?" she called again.

Then her stepmother's footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs. Annabeth took a deep breath, ready for Adrian's rant about taking too long, and la de da de da.

She stepped in the door, but didn't say a thing. I turned my head to face her at the door.

"Alright. What's going on?" she asked. Annabeth shot up.

"What?"

Adrian sighed. "The boys tell me you've been pouting up here for an hour."

Annabeth lay back down. _She's come up to lecture me. And I _really _don't need that right now._

Adrian, now exasperated, came to sit at the end of the bed. "This is about a certain boy isn't it?" her stepmother asked, suddenly finding Annabeth's quilt on her bed very interesting.

"I don't know what-"

"Annabeth, please. I want to help. I'm really the only one who can here. You're father won't be much help…he was never good at dating." she shuttered at the thought. And Annabeth couldn't help but let a giggle sneak it's way out from her lips.

She didn't know if she could open up very much to her stepmother about her Percy Problem, but might as well.

"Yeah. It's about Percy. It's just…he doesn't seem t-to care really. Like we're drifting apart. He doesn't call. He doesn't even text me. And we live only across the East River now! Not in San Francisco! And he still doesn't even make a move to come see me, or do anything!"

Before Annabeth even knew it, she had poured everything about her Percy Problem to her stepmother, whom she'd never fully trusted. But all of the sudden it seemed like the right thing to do.

Adrian was silent for a while. Still very interested in the quilt. Then finally, "You know what Annabeth? Percy sounds like he's being a normal seventeen year old boy. He's surrounded by girls who are obsessed with him! What do you want him to do? I bet he's surrounded by them in school. And you know what he's been through, because you've been through the same things!"

Annabeth considered that for a minute. Then shook her head. " I don't think so…" she whispered. Adrian lifted her eyebrows. Annabeth looked out her window, which faced a lake behind their house, shining in the sunlight. _Stupid Rachel Elizabeth Dare._ I thought.

Without even thinking, it came out of my mouth before it even really processed through my head.

"Well, I mean, I don't think that's true because of…Rachel Elizabeth Dare." I said.

Adrian gave her a strange look. Annabeth took a deep breath and explained all about Rachel, and how Percy always liked to be with her more than me because of her being mortal. He was like her escape from all the stuff at camp, in the demigod life. Annabeth just kept ranting about him and Rachel, and that he talked about her all the time.

After she finished, all of the air out of my lungs, Adrian again just sat there, playing with a loose string.

Adrian smiled. "Dear. I'm not sure if this is what Percy had in mind, but his mind might be subconsciously trying to make you jealous." she said.

Annabeth just shook her head at her stepmother. "He's a Seaweed Brain. He's not smart enough to even do that subconsciously." Adrian considered that, then said, "Well. Maybe it's cause he doesn't know what you're feeling. He could be totally confused be what you're feeling, and because you don't even tell him, he could be pushing it off his shoulder. Because in his mind-or boys in general- he doesn't think it's important if you haven't told him yet.

"So I suggest you confront Percy on your feelings. Corner him about it! Take control! You're a daughter of Athena, Annabeth! I know you can do it!"

_Well, _Annabeth thought._ It was a lame pep talk. But I did make me feel better._

She thanked Adrian, hugging her, and telling her she'd be down for dinner soon. Adrian was smiling as she left the room, but Annabeth was still feeling pretty doubtful on the Percy Problem.

But she had no idea what was going through the head of a green eyed, black haired boy, across the East River, lying on the bed in his room of his apartment, throwing a baseball up and down.


	3. Percy's Girl Troubles

Percy scowled at his ceiling, the baseball turning his hands red from hitting it so much, but he kept up the momentum of tossing it up and down. His green eyes were flaring at the moment, and his foot was tapping in the air.

He looked over at the clock that said it was 7:08 PM. He caught the baseball finally, and set it on the bed.

Sitting up, scowl still in place, he stretched his arms. A flash of silver caught his eye.

He looked over at the picture frame-well, the picture placed in it-and his scowl let up only slightly.

Percy stood up and sauntered over to his desk, picking the picture up.

_Annabeth. _he thought.

His friend at twelve years old, smiled up at him, her grin outshining him easily. Her hair was lighter when she was this age, and in a ponytail.

He sighed and set it almost roughly back down on the desk.

"Sally? You home? Percy?" his now stepfather's voice could be heard coming from the front hall. Percy left his room, hands shoved in his pockets as he went to meet his stepfather.

"Oh Percy! There you are! Where's your mom?" he asked.

"She said she had to stay a little late tonight. The editor wanted her there when he finished reading and editing the last chapter of her novel." I relayed to him from what my mom had told me on the phone earlier that day.

Paul smiled. He was just as proud of Sally as Percy was. His mom was finally getting her spotlight. She had finished her novel, and had quickly got it into an editor. The editor had immediately fallen in love with his mother's story. His mom was finally getting her dream come true.

Too bad Percy's was a little harder to achieve. He hadn't even seen Annabeth since August, at camp, and it was March._ March._ He hadn't heard any word from Grover for awhile either, but that was beside the point. He and Annabeth were being pulled apart, and he blamed himself. And then there was Rachel…that was a whole different story…He had to push that thought to the back of his head when his stepfather started talking to him.

"So how was your day? Get all your homework done?" Paul asked. Percy just nodded, following him into the kitchen. Paul looked relieved to lay his brief case on the table.

"That's good. I'm very impressed with your grades Percy. You're doing well." Because Paul was a teacher, school was his favorite subject of conversation. That was probably the only thing Percy didn't like about the guy.

"Thanks Paul." he replied, his voice blank.

Paul opened the fridge, pulling out a yogurt, pulling off the top and dipping a spoon in. Percy went and lifted himself onto the counter, leaning against the cupboard.

He took a deep breath and said, "Hey…Paul? Do you think…do you think I could take you up on an offer?"

Paul froze with the yogurt halfway to his mouth. "Like what?"

_Just get it out. Say it, and don't be embarrassed!_

"Girl problems." Percy strained, his eyes closed tightly. He heard Paul set the yogurt down on the table, and he opened one eye. Paul was smiling, and crossing his arms.

"What can I help you with Percy?"

_Ok. You got him listening. Get it out!_

"Well, you see…" he didn't know where to start.

"Ok, tell me about the girl first."

_Oh yeah…obviously…_ "Well, there's two. Rachel, you've met her, she's the one that goes to Clarion. And, she's a good friend, but it's just…"

Paul looked a bit confused, "Ok. Try explaining how you feel about them too."

Percy rubbed the back of his neck, and could feel his cheeks turning red. "With Rachel…it's like, I can be myself around her…and I don't have to watch what I say. I can just be me, and we have a lot of fun!"

Paul nodded, and looked like he was sincerely considering this. "Ok. Is there more?"

"One."

"Shoot."

Percy nodded, and swallowed. "Then there's Annabeth. I'm pretty sure you've met her too, or maybe just seen her. But with her…it's different."

"How different?" Paul inquired.

"Like, whenever I see her, when I get to camp, my heart starts to do relay races once I see her!" Percy was on a roll now, and he couldn't keep it all cooped up in the back of his head anymore, "I know that sounds kinda corny…but it's true! And, I feel like I have to impress her, and…I always just want to see her smile. And I want to be the only one to make her smile…" Percy died out as quickly as he'd got worked up.

Now, to Paul, it was obvious which one Percy should choose. But apparently, Percy was oblivious. Paul just shook his head, and an idea sparked.

"Well Percy, I'm going to say this once. Whenever I see you're mother, my stomach turns over, and I want to reach out and hold her. She seems like the most beautiful thing on this whole planet. But I'm not going to influence your choice. You have to choose for yourself. Turn what you told me over and over in your head, and what I said. And it'll become clear."

With that, Paul picked his yogurt back up, spooned the strawberry flavor into his mouth, and went out to the living room, turning on the T.V. to the local news.

Percy just sat on the counter, doing exactly what Paul had told him. His mind turned blank, and he just became even more confused than before.

_No wonder Annabeth calls me a Seaweed Brain. I really am! Why does this have to be so hard? Whoever said life isn't fair was dead on._

But just thinking of Annabeth brought in the strange tangle of feelings again, that he'd felt in his room, seeing the picture.

_Good luck Seaweed Brain, come back alive._ Her voice echoed in his head, and he almost felt the pressure on his mouth from hers, and the heat of Mt. Saint Helens radiating from around them.

He shook his head as he opened the refrigerator, pulling out a pop. As he snapped the seal, hearing the fizz, the door opened.

"Ugh. It's about time. Hello Paul." Percy heard his mother say, sounding frustrated. He heard a smack of his mother kissing Paul on the cheek, then she walked in the kitchen, hair hanging in her face, and grocery bags filling her arms.

"Here mom let me help." he offered, but Sally Jackson just shook her head. She set the bags on the center island in the kitchen, and walked around it to give Percy her classic I'm-a-mom-and-I-love-you-so-much hug. The hug faintly reminded Percy of Tyson.

"How'd the editing go?" he asked, pulling out a box of Hot Fudge Sunday Pop-Tarts.

His mother smiled, "It went pretty well."

"Pretty well as in excellent?" Paul said as he sauntered into the kitchen, a folded piece of paper in his hand. "I just read this! And you say _pretty well?"_ Paul dropped the paper on the center island and swooped Sally into a hug, spinning her around. Sally laughed out loud, a huge grin on her face, and Percy couldn't help thinking how much they'd both changed since Gabe had left their lives. And Percy also couldn't help chuckling at the thought of _The Poker Player_.

He picked up the paper Paul had dropped and read a part of it: _…the best storyline I've seen in a long time. The following address will help with publishing…_

"Mom!" Percy ran over and hugged his mom again.

His mom had tears of joy leaking from her eyes, and she picked up the paper again, clutching it to her heart. "You did it Sally." Paul whispered. Sally smiled, and turned to kiss him.

_Oh, time to go._ Percy thought, grabbing his pop and backing inconspicuously out of the kitchen. As he made his way back to his room, he thought about what Paul said again,

_Whenever I see your mother, my stomach turns over and I want to reach out ,and hold her._

He stole a glance at the picture of the two grinning twelve year olds, and picked up the phone in his room, dialing a number he'd memorized years ago.

A/N: Hmmm….who's Percy calling???? MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes I leave you with another cliffy!

Thank you for all the reviews!!! It made me so happy to see all of them in my inbox!!!

I'm sorry for any mistakes, I don't have the books for reference. I borrowed them from a friend (and need to buy them soon I must say!, ) but for any mistakes, I apologize.

R&R!! No flames please!


	4. Percy Takes Action

Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The plot thickens!!!!

Percy: I don't even know who I'm calling. Just get on with the story!

Annabeth: YEAH! It's no fair! Where's the Percabeth? We're not even near each other!

Me: Oh don't worry… I have plans… ::evil hand ringing::

Percy/Annabeth: Oh gods…

A/N: Don't get the wrong idea in this chapter, I do love Rachel, she's awesome! But in this story she's just kind of a road block for Percy and Annabeth. And I know it contradicts the ending of The Last Olympian, but this whole fan fiction kind of does!!

_**So tell me what you want to hear, **_

_**Something that were like those years**_

_**I'm sick of all the insincere**_

_**So I'm gonna give all my secrets away.**_

**Annabeth ran into her room from the hallway, hearing her ring tone, and picking her cell phone up, pressing enter and holding it up to her ear.**

"**Helloo?" **

**There was a silence on the other line for a while, then, "Hey Annabeth." a shy voice whispered.**

**Annabeth froze, lying on her stomach on her bed.**

"**P-percy!" she almost shouted. "Um, hi!" She knew she probably sounded like an idiot, and that her voice was high pitched, and nervous.**

"**Yeah, hey. Um, what's up?" **

_**Well at least he sounds just as nervous as me.**_

"**Well, not much actually! I'm just sitting at home. You?" **

**Percy swallowed on the other end. Just hearing her voice did that to him! "Same. I'm just sitting in my room." he said awkwardly. **

**This conversation wasn't going exactly as he planned it…then again **_**nothing**_** ever went as he planned!**

**He cleared his throat. **_**Get down to business man!**_** He encouraged himself mentally. (A/N: Yes…I thought of Mulan too…)**

"**Hey, Annabeth, there was actually something I was going to ask you." he spike into the receiver, his voice wavering slightly.**

"**Oh," Annabeth's heart started doing double time, seeming to fill her whole chest. It took almost all of her air to answer him, "What was it?"**

_**That's your cue! Go!!**_** Percy's mental cheerleader shouted again.**

"**Well I was wondering if you were…if you were doing anything this weekend." There. He'd gotten it out. His eyes were clenched shut, along with his teeth as he awaited her reply.**

**But on the other end, Annabeth had completely shut down. She was staring at her wall, her phone loosely held in her hand, her mouth open slightly. "W-what?" was all she could get out of her already closing up throat.**

"**I asked you if you were doing anything this weekend." Percy repeated. Now that he'd said it once, it was easy to get it out again.**

"**No. I'm not!" Her voice was high and squeaky again, nothing like Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena.**

**Percy felt his stomach do back flips, front flips, and flip flops . "Really?! That's great! I mean, well, yeah. I was wondering if you…you wanted to hang out?" **

**This was a dream. A dream…come true. Hadn't she just been talking about Percy to Adrian only a few days ago? And she'd literally told her that he never called her, and here he was. Calling her **_**and **_**asking her to hang out this weekend. Her heart was going quadruple time and her breath was coming in short gasps.**

"**Um, yeah! J-just let me ask my dad! Here, hang on!" she took the phone away from her ear and held it against her chest. Her feet started running before she gave them the command towards the door and downstairs.**

**She found her father sitting at the table, his magnifying glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, reading the newspaper. She could hear Matthew and Bobby fighting over Legos in the other room. "Dad?" Annabeth asked from the landing on the stairs.**

**Fredrick Chase looked up from the newspaper at his daughter, his eyes twice their normal size from his glasses. "Yes dear?"**

**Annabeth swallowed her giggle, and put on her serious face. "Percy wants to know if I could hang out this weekend." she stated as simply as she could, trying to make it sound casual so her dad didn't freak out.**

**Her dad was a suspicious man though. "Percy? Oh yes. Percy's a nice boy. But what would you do-"**

"**Yes." a voice came from the hallway, moving into the kitchen. Annabeth looked over and saw Adrian coming in with a basket of folded clothes.**

"**What?" Fredrick asked incredulously.**

"**Yes. Yes she can hang out with Percy this weekend." she said simply, setting the basket on the center island.**

**Before her father could say anything else, she said "Thank you!" loudly, so her father new she meant "Case closed," and ran back upstairs. Once she closed her bedroom door behind her, she squealed and did a little dance, completely unlike Annabeth, but she was too giddy right now. **

"**Percy?"**

"**Yeah?" Too quick. He was too excited, too anxious.**

"**My step mom said yes."**

"**That's…cool!" He said into the receiver, trying to stop himself from shouting out and jumping up in the air.**

**They were both ready to scream out to the world, shaking with excitement.**

"**So, I'll pick you up Friday. Is that okay with you?"**

"**You'll pick me up?" she asked, her voice questioning.**

"**Oh yeah…you'll see."**

**Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Typical Seaweed Brain!" she said sarcastically.**

"**You know it Wise Girl!" he replied in the same voice.**

**They were smiling on both ends of the telephone line.**

"**Well, Friday will work. So I'll see you then?"**

"**Yup."**

"**Alright…bye!"**

"**See ya."**

_**Click.**_

**In Queens, Annabeth collapsed on her bed, holding her phone to her chest, and let out a scream full of joy.**

**And in Manhattan, "YES!" Percy shouted, punching the air.**

_**They will not force us,**_

_**They will stop degrading us,**_

_**They will not control us,**_

_**We will be victorious,**_

_**So come on!**_

**Percy looked down at his phone again, his eyebrows knitting together. He clicked enter, and held it to his ear.**

"**Hello?"**

"**Percy! Hey!"**

"…**Rachel."**

**A/N: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Oh I feel so evil!**

**Thanks again for the reviews! And again, if I have any mistakes, I'm sorry. **

**Annabeth's ring tone was Secrets, by One Republic**

**And Percy's was Uprising, By Muse.**


	5. A Road Block

"Well somebody doesn't sound too happy to hear from me." Rachel said into her cell phone, sitting in her closet, hiding from her friends.

"No! Oh no, I just…I had a bad day." Percy recovered quickly.

"Aw…what happened wittle Percy." Rachel joked.

"Funny. Really funny."

"So are you going to ask why I called?"

Percy rolled his eyes, smiling. "Why did you call."

He heard Rachel take a breath on the other line, then heard a girl's voice say "Rachel! Get out here!" Rachel then groaned.

"Hang on a second."

Rachel opened the door of the closet. "What is it Claire?"

The brown haired girl, still in her Clarion school uniform stood there with the closet door open.

"Is that Percy Jackson on the phone? The one you're always talking about?"

"SHHHH!," Rachel pressed the phone down on the floor. "Do you want Percy to hear?"

Claire covered her mouth quickly. "Sorry." she whispered, though it was muffled by her hand.

Rachel sighed. "Yes it is. Now what?" it came out harsher than she'd meant it to.

"I was going to say," she was whispering now, glancing suspiciously at the phone. "that you should surprise him! He doesn't know you're coming back for spring break! Just show up!"

Rachel considered that for a second… "You know Claire…I think you just had the best idea of your life!" Rachel picked up the phone, and Claire closed the closet door again, looking very please with herself.

"I was just checking up!" Rachel said quickly.

Percy looked confused on the other side. "Um…ok. Sure. I'm great."

"Ok! Well…I'll see you!" and Rachel just hung up. Percy looked at his phone for a moment, the time blinking 1:56 of how long the conversation had been.

Strangely…he felt…_relieved._ It had scared him enough hearing Rachel right after he'd talked to Annabeth. And hearing Rachel say she was just checking up loosened up his chest.

He was already anxious to see Annabeth in only two days. For awhile, he just stood there, staring at his poster of _The Beatles_, then he slipped his phone into his pocket, took a deep breath and went out to join Paul and his mom for dinner.

His mom had made spaghetti and meatballs, with blue tomato sauce-Paul had gotten used to the idea of blue food. His mom was washing the lettuce for salad when he waltzed in the kitchen.

"So?" His mom inquired, not even looking up from the sink.

"So, what?" Percy replied, lifting himself up on the counter.

"Get off the counter. And you know very well what I mean." Sally told her son, ripping paper towels off the roll.

Percy stared at his mom as he slid himself off again. Sometimes he suspected that she knew more that just her Seeing-through-the-Mist-power.

"How did you know?"

"Percy, do you really think it's that hard to hear through the walls in this apartment? Especially when you shout out YES!?" she told him.

Percy stared at her again. "Oh. Well…"

"What are you and Annabeth going to do this weekend?" she asked.

"I don't really know…" he could feel his cheeks starting to burn. This was kind of awkward…

"Maybe a movie. And I do give you permission for you to pick her up. Just be careful. You know I don't like the traffic. And-"

"Sally. He'll be fine. I trust him." Paul suddenly came in clapping Percy on the back.

Percy grinned at his step father. When his mother's back was turned he mouthed _Thank you._ to Paul. Paul just winked in return.

"Don't give any secret looks and messages behind my back!" Sally said sternly. Paul looked horrified at his wife, and Percy looked at his mother with the same suspecting look as before.

"Don't look at me like that either." she said, starting to chop tomatoes into the bowl of lettuce.

"…Paul…is basketball on T.V.?" Percy asked, making his way slowly to the living room with a Coca-Cola.

"Yeah. The Knicks against the Timberwolves…" Paul nodded to him, grabbing the remote from the table, and they both made their escape into the living room.

Paul clicked the Power button.

"I'd like to know too. How did it go?" Paul asked very casually, but Percy knew that he did seriously want to know.

"Well…I just finished talking to Annabeth. We're going to hang out this weekend." Percy said, feeling the blush cover his cheeks again. He'd been blushing a lot today…

"That sounds like fun!" Paul said, staring at the scene. But there was something behind his voice…

"Oh look! Gallinari's great! Look at that!" Paul shouted suddenly.

Percy looked towards the screen, but wasn't seeing the amazing play that Paul was seeing. He hadn't told Paul about Rachel calling…he didn't know why that had flown out of his mind.

Annabeth seemed to have just taken over his thoughts, and tightened it's grip, not letting him _not _think about her. He could see her face, see her smiling at him, see her looking at him with the "Come on Seaweed Brain." then the thought of in Mt. Saint Helen's came back again, perfectly vivid in his mind. The same colors, the feeling of Annabeth's lips on his mouth…

"YES! GO McGRADY GO! RUN DOWN-YES!" Paul's voice interrupted his thoughts. Percy literally jumped up, and his eyes focused on the screen just in time to see McGrady make the three pointer, with only three seconds left.

"Alright you two, dinner!" Sally called from the kitchen. Percy got up immediately, walking almost subconsciously to the kitchen, while Paul was still doing a victory dance in front of the couch.

His mother set out the plates, as Percy just sat down, his eyes far off.

_Probably in Queens._ His mother thought, smiling to herself.

"Get in here Paul." she said, her eyes never leaving her son.

_He's grown up so much._

A/N: This chapter is just kind of a passing chapter. Not all that exciting, but I promise, the next chapter will make up for it!

R&R!


	6. The Plan Goes Into Play

"Then your homework for the weekend will be seven pages in the Literature Book…"

Annabeth sat at her desk, tapping her foot in impatience. _Seven more minutes…_ she thought in earnest. She stared at the ticking second hand, that seemed to have slowed to the pace of a tortoise.

The teacher kept lagging on, his interminable voice filling even the smallest corners of the classroom. Annabeth looked over at her friend Jaime, who was looking at a strand of her hair in confusion.

Annabeth's foot started tapping faster and faster.

_Come on…dismiss us…only three more minutes…_

All that was running through her brain had the word "Percy" in it.

"And I expect all of that due on Monday, at the very start of class. You are dismissed."

Annabeth jumped up immediately grabbing her bag and making a break for it down the hall.

She heard Jaime call after her, but she just kept running.

-x-

"Rachel! How nice to see you!" Sally Jackson said as she opened the door to the apartment.

"Hi Mrs. Jackson! Is Percy in?" she asked, casually glancing over Mrs. Jackson's shoulder, waiting for a certain black haired seventeen year old coming up from behind, taller than his mother now, exclaiming "Rachel! Whoa! What are you doing here?"

But no such thing happened. "I'm sorry Rachel. He left earlier today, and you know boys. He didn't even tell me where he was going! I'm not sure when he'll be back either. I'm sorry again."

_Seriously? I came all this way for the weekend, and spring break, and he's not even here?_

"No no, that's fine Mrs. Jackson. Thank you!" she said, turning to make her way back towards the stair well.

-x-

"Is pretty Rachel gone?" the tall boy with one big, innocent brown eye said from Percy's bed.

"Yes. She just left." Sally replied, smiling at Tyson.

"GOOD! We can't be having her around." a girl in a 30 Seconds To Mars shirt, and black spiky hair said from the window.

"Thalia, she's not even-"

"I don't want to hear your opinion right now Goat Boy." Thalia snapped, though she wasn't exactly angry, just anxious.

Grover slumped onto the bed next to Tyson-they got along just fine now- and ripped a piece of Percy's comforter off and started to chew on it.

In fact, everyone in the room was anxious.

Thalia hadn't stopped pacing since she'd walked in right after Percy left.

Grover had been eating pieces of furniture nonstop.

Tyson had been staring out the window, at the Moonlace that Percy had received from Calypso.

Nico was making fish bones dance on Percy's desk, with a sullen expression.

Connor and Travis Stoll, well, you couldn't exactly tell with them. They were pouring over a map of Manhattan, probably looking for a candy store to raid.

"So what exactly is your plan?" Sally asked the Camp Half-Blood crowd.

"We don't know. All I know is that we can't let that-that…_mortal_ disrupt Percy and Annabeth!" Thalia fumed, literally. Steam started flowing off her skin.

"I agree with Thalia." Nico muttered from over at the desk.

Grover nodded, and Tyson grinned. "Annabeth and Percy! Together right now!" he shouted.

"Oh I hope so Tyson! And…er…Thalia dear? It'd be really nice if you didn't send a bolt of lightning through my apartment…" Sally said quietly, still standing by Percy's bedroom door.

"Oh!…sorry Mrs. J." Thalia blushed, looking at the ceiling.

"Soooo…anybody have a plan?" Nico asked.

"Oh! Right! Alright, here's what we're going to do…"

-x-

"Annabeth! Jeez, you run too fast. So what do you think of that assignment? Seriously…" Annabeth tuned Jaime out, looking over the crowd of kids out into the parking lot.

_Maybe he's not her-_

"Oh. My. God. Who is that?!?!?" Jaime squealed from beside her. Annabeth rolled her eyes and looked to where she was pointing.

"He's gorgeous!" Jaime shrieked again.

Annabeth focused on the boy and gasped. His black hair was falling over his forehead, his green eyes could be seen gleaming in the sun even from here, all the way up the stairs. He was wearing a simple t-shirt with a band name on it, dark blue jeans that scrunched up at the bottom, and black converse.

Annabeth couldn't stop the grin from forming on her face.

"I'll see you later Jaime." she said, hiking her backpack strap over her shoulder and running down the stairs.

"Percy!" she shouted, catching his attention. He'd been looking in the crowd for her, and now his eyes focused on her.

_Wow…she's…she's beautiful._ Percy thought, seeing her blonde hair rushing behind her, longer than the last time he'd seen her. Her gray eyes looked straight at him, only at him. His insides did a somersault at that. He felt a smile break out across his face.

"Hey Annabeth!" he shouted back. She slammed into him, wrapping her arms around him. He swung her around in a circle, making a whiff of peaches-her shampoo he guessed-go to his nostrils.

"It's so good to see you!" she told him.

"Yeah…it really is! So how're you?" Percy asked, slipping a hand in his pocket.

"Meh. I can't complain." she replied, but then her attention focused on the car. A black Mustang parked at the edge of the curb.

"Wow. This is _yours?_" she asked incredulously.

Percy smiled smugly. "Yup. Say hello to my seventeenth birthday present."

Annabeth's mouth opened wide in shock. "It's really nice." she whispered, almost to herself, but Percy heard it. He couldn't look away from her. Annabeth ran her hand over the hood of the car.

_Well get a move on! Don't just stand there and stare at her! Whisk her away!_ The voice said in the back of his head again. He went around her, opening the passenger door.

"Your chariot M'lady." he bowed to her, shooting her a grin.

Annabeth rolled her sparkling gray eyes at him. "Thanks so much Seaweed Brain." was all she said.

_Good to see you too._ Percy thought.

Annabeth slid into the car, setting her backpack onto her lap. Percy sauntered around the front of the car to the driver's side.

When he shut the door, and started up the car, Annabeth asked, "So where to?"

"Well, I was literally just going to ask you the same thing." he shrugged, pulling out of the school's parking lot.

"How about…coffee first? There's a cute little café downtown." Annabeth suggested.

"Sounds good to me." he agreed, stopping at a stop light.

-x-

"All good." Grover said into the walkie-talkie.

"Alright, update then! What's going on?" Connor's voice crackled from the other end.

Thalia grabbed the walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button. "They just left in Percy's Stang. We're on the move. And remember, keep an eye out for Rachel!" and she let go of the button.

"Alright Grover, let's go. We've got some Body Guarding to do."

"I thought we were spy-"

"NO WE'RE NOT!" she yelled. Grover had to pull her down in the bushes, so none of the leftover students saw them, just sitting there conspicuously in the bushes.

"Alright. We're not." Grover said, not wanting to get on Thalia's bad side on the moment.

"We won't interfere with Percy and Annabeth either. The only person we'll interfere with _if we have to _is the mortal. Now let's go! I can't even see the Stang anymore!" she grabbed Grover's arm and sprinted out of the bushes.

-x-

"Yeah Dad. I don't know, he wasn't at his apartment."

There was a pause as Mr. Dare spoke on the other end.

"No, I think I'll hang around the city for awhile. Who knows? Maybe I'll bump into him on the streets."

Silently, she added to herself, _That's how we met the first time anyway…well sort of. He probably won't try to slice me in half this time anyway._ Rachel could barely hold in her giggle.

Mr. Dare spoke again.

"Yeah. I'll try and be back at home in a few hours. Ok? Alright, bye Dad."

She pressed end, and put the phone back into her purse.

_Alright, where are you Perseus Jackson?_ She thought, looking up at the tall buildings of Manhattan meeting the bright blue, mid afternoon sky.

A/N: And the plot thickens again! Hahahahaha! I was going to post this tomorrow, but then I got two reviews from: Karate Chic and Annabeth Supporter saying: UPDATE NOW! Literally! So here you go! I know it's kind of late, but here it is!


	7. A Distraction

"…and my dad was like, wait. What do you mean? And my step mom and Matt and Bobby were all cracking up! Adrian had to support herself on the counter she was laughing so hard!" Annabeth finished, small tears coming out of her eyes from laughing.

Percy was laughing too, while looking out at the stop sign. He pressed the gas down again, seeing no one else at the intersection.

"So what about you then? How's you're mom and Paul?" Annabeth asked, stuffing her backpack down under be her feet.

"Well, not so bad. Paul's a nice guy, and my mom seems really happy. Her novels getting published soon you know." he added.

Annabeth gasped, "Really! That's awesome! Tell her congratulations!"

The two had been talking like this for a while, as they drove into town to the café Annabeth had mentioned.

"So where is this café?" Percy asked, looking out the windshield.

"Um…shouldn't be far from here. Yeah, this is 32nd street, and it's on 34th. So we're almost there."

"Cool. So anything…at school?"

"Don't make this an awkward conversation Seaweed Brain."

"Oh. Yeah…um…"

"There's the café."

"Great!" Percy swallowed, his throat dry. He was so glad to see her, but what could he say? He couldn't say anything that would hint to her that…well that he…he couldn't even think the words.

"Where do we park?"

"Against the curb I guess." Annabeth looked out the window, at the small café she and her father had stopped at once when he'd picked her up from school. She could still feel where Percy's arms had been around her when he'd hugged her.

"You coming?"

Annabeth jolted and looked up. She hadn't even noticed Percy getting out of the car, and here he was standing right in front of her, hand extended towards her.

She put her hand lightly in his, and he pulled her up from the passenger seat.

-x-

"Boring boring boring."

"What do you mean boring? This is so romantic!"

"Grover, they've been driving for three miles."

"Laughing, and talking, and-"

"That isn't like Annabeth and Percy! We need some pizzazz! Something big and epic to happen!"

"Uh, Thalia, you said we weren't going to interfere…"

"Well, I might have told a little white lie. But come on! They won't see us, we'll just…add a little somethin somethin."

"Thalia! But it's going so well!"

"Annabeth hasn't even blushed yet!"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Grover, I don't know how you got Juniper's affections. You know nothing of romance."

"All I'm saying is-WHAT'S THAT GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING!"

The walkie-talkie in Thalia's pocket talked, making the voice on the other end raspy.

She pulled it out, both her and Grover becoming suddenly silent.

"Who is it?"

"It's Nico. And we've got some bad news."

"What??"

"The mortal is literally a street away from where the lovebirds are."

"Dammit!" Thalia whispered fiercely.

Grover stole the walkie-talkie away from her. "Nico, distract her."

"With what? I can't exactly bring up dead people, she'll just freak out!"

"She likes art! Do something with art!"

Thalia and Grover heard Tyson on the other end whispering, "Hurry hurry! Rachel walking quickly to Percy!"

"Nico, do it!"

"Do what? Just throw some random masterpiece in the road?"

"I don't know! Just do something!" Grover shouted into the walkie-talkie and shoved it in his pocket.

"You keep an eye on the lovebirds, I'm going to help Nico." Thalia whispered. Grover nodded, and Thalia started running to 33rd street.

-x-

"Ugh, Percy where are you!" Rachel mumbled to herself.

"Excuse me young lady!" Rachel looked up from the sidewalk. She was right next to a small art gallery. She gasped at all the colors.

_Maybe I could stop for a little while…_

"Young lady! It's not polite to stare!" Rachel looked up at the very tall women and gasped even louder. She had one eye. A big brown eye.

_Like Ty-_

"Do you like this piece?" the lady said, shoving a small painting in Rachel's face.

It couldn't be Tyson. It actually sounded like a women. And Tyson had a big, deep voice. This couldn't be him. Maybe it was some girl Cyclops just trying to make a living and taking advantage of the Mist.

"Well yes, it's nice…"

"GOOD! You can have it then!"

"I can have it? But-"

"Yes! You like it? It's free! Here you go! Bye-bye!" the lady stuffed the painting into Rachel's hands and turned away to a different customer, who seemed oblivious to the one eye.

_Ok…that was strange…_

She sighed and looked up at the sky again.

_Oh gods, how could I be so stupid!_

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She went to "P" in her contacts and pressed dial.

Rachel tucked the painting under her shoulder and put the phone to her ear. The dial tone echoed in her ear.

-x-

The smell of fresh ground coffee beans and fresh baked bread swirled around them as they walked into the café. Percy swung his keys around his fingers, making a jingling sound.

"Here, I'll order, you go find a table, okay?" Percy gestured towards all the tables, and-regretfully-let go of Annabeth's hand.

Annabeth went over to one of the tables by the window, as Percy turned to the employee behind the register.

"What can I get for you?"

"I'll have-"

_They will not force us_

_They will stop degrading us_

_They will not control us_

Percy fumbled with pulling his phone out of his pocket, blushing from embarrassment of forgetting to put it on vibrate.

The Caller I.D. said: Rachel Dare.

Percy stared at his phone, his teeth clenched together.

_Should I answer it?_

He thought, he looked over at Annabeth, sitting by the window, looking out at all the people bustling around her legs crossed and one of her feet tapping. Her medium straight hair falling just by her shoulders, and her arms crossed, leaning onto the table.

He smiled at her,

_They will stop degrading us_

_They will not control us_

_We will be victorious, _

_So come on!_

Percy looked back down at his phone, stared at for a moment, then pressed his thumb down over the button that said "Ignore."

"Hey kid? Can I get you anything?" the employee asked again, and Percy could hear people getting annoyed behind him.

"Yeah. I'll have two white chocolate mochas please." he said, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

And the funny thing was, he didn't even feel that guilty.

A/N: WHOA PERCY! And Rachel gets _rejected!_ Woohoo!

Thank you for all the lovely reviews!

And in case you're wondering, yes. The art lady was Tyson, being the distraction.

R&R!


	8. A Little Somethin Somethin

_**Head under water, **_

_**And you tell me to breathe easy for a while**_

_**The breathing gets harder, even I know that**_

_**Made room for me , but it's too soon to see**_

_**If I'm unhappy in your hands.**_

**Annabeth rolled her eyes at the song playing on the radio. Percy cocked his head in questioning.**

"**It's an old song. And this station plays it every day at this time!" she replied, sipping her mocha.**

"**My mom likes this song…" Percy said without thinking.**

"**That just made it even more awkward." Annabeth said looking up at him from over her coffee. They both laughed quietly.**

"**So who was on the phone?" Annabeth asked. She looked out the window as she said it, not wanting Percy figure it out by looking in her eyes.**

"**No one of importance." he said simple, without even missing a beat. (A/N: DISS RACHEL!)**

**Annabeth looked back at him, and her eyes widened a bit. Percy was looking straight at her. She couldn't read his green eyes, and that frustrated her. She hated not knowing things…**

_**Is he moving closer?**_** She thought she saw him inch towards her slowly. She didn't move back. **

**Both of their cheeks were as red as the paint in the café. A dark maroon color.**

**He moved closer again, a little more obvious this time, and-**

"**Free samples! Everything bagels, our famous homemade chicken salad, your choice!" a tray appeared between them. The employee was a teenage boy, maybe fifteen years old, and he had braces.**

**Annabeth's cheeks burned even darker as she quickly looked out the window. Percy gave the employee an annoyed look, and the boy backed off. **

_**Why did I do that? I just keep proving that I'm a true Seaweed Brain…**_

**They didn't say anything the rest of the time they were in the café. **

**-x-**

"**I'M GONNA KILL THAT WAITER!!" Nico and Grover were holding Thalia back. Tyson finally grabbed all three of them and pulled them back in the bush before Annabeth's eyes could fall on them.**

"**Thalia, get a grip-" Nico got an elbow in the face.**

"**Just let me-"**

"**Thalia! No lightning bolts! Percy and Annabeth are in there!" Grover shouted.**

**It took another few minutes and many bruises on Grover and Nico's arms before Thalia finally calmed down. Tyson was distracted by three small brown birds taking turns pecking at a chip.**

"**Alright, no updates from Connor and Travis." Nico confirmed from his walkie-talkie.**

"**What does that mean?" Thalia looked at him.**

"**It means that Rachel is very far away now." Nico grinned at the other three. Grover punched the air and Thalia grinned just as manically as Nico.**

"**Now Thalia, about that somethin somethin you have planned for Annabeth and Percy?"**

**Thalia's grin got bigger if possible. "Well, I'm no Percy, but to do what I planned, I need you to play your pipes Grover." she whispered, making everybody put their heads together.**

"**What do you mean you're no Percy?" Nico looked confused. **

**Thalia told them the plan, and the grins just got bigger and bigger.**

**-x-**

"**Where to next?" Percy asked as he and Annabeth walked out of the café. Percy held the door for Annabeth, making her blush come back slightly. **

"**Well, I think you should pick, since I picked to go to the café." she told him, tucking her ear behind her ear. Percy shoved his hands into his pockets again. **

**A sudden rumbling sound came from under them, followed by a slight vibration.**

"**Percy, what's going on?"**

"**I don't know. I don't think it was anything I ate!" Percy said with a smile.**

**Annabeth was about to laugh at the comment, but then the sidewalk right in front of them cracked in half, and a huge wave of water came rushing at them. Annabeth's high pitched scream filled the air, and Percy was too slow with his dry power, so he got soaked as well.**

**After what seemed to be a few minutes, the water abruptly stopped. Nobody else around them was wet, only Percy and Annabeth. **

**Annabeth stared open mouthed at Percy for a few seconds, who stared right back. And they burst out laughing. They attracted even more attention than the water wave had. People stopped and stared at the two. **

**Annabeth staggered over and leaned on Percy's shoulder. "W-what did y-you **_**do**_** Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth said in between laughing. Percy looked up at her. **

"**What do you mean what **_**I **_**did?" he asked, sarcasm dripping from is voice.**

"**That was water! Only you could've done that!"**

**Percy just doubled over laughing, shaking his head. He unintentionally dragged Annabeth down with him. They were now literally rolling around on the wet sidewalk new bursts of laughter coming with every breath. **

**Mothers were pulling their children along, not wanting them to stare at the insane teenagers.**

**After a long period of time, the laughter filling the street died down, into just small gasps. Annabeth crawled over to where Percy lay on his back, taking deep breaths.**

"**Why-?" was all Annabeth could get out, then laughter slipped out again. Percy lifted himself up and stuck a hand down to help Annabeth up. She took it, a huge, silly grin still on her face.**

**They ignored all of the stares, and head off down the street.**

**Neither pulled their hands away out of the small, perfectly fitting knot.**


	9. So Close

"You paid for the coffee, I'll pay for the ice cream!" Annabeth told Percy with finality in her voice. Percy just rolled his eyes and leaned against the ice cream stand.

When she'd paid for the mint and chocolate chip ice cream cups, they started walking again slowly.

"So what now? I don't think I'll be hungry for awhile after these…" Annabeth murmured as Percy shoved a big spoonful in his mouth.

He looked over at her while trying to keep the cold blob of ice cream from touching the top of his mouth.

Annabeth looked over at him and cracked a smile. "You don't know how stupid you look." Percy turned is head to a vending machine and smiled at his reflection. Well, a tight smile, considering he couldn't open his mouth.

"You there! Pretty lady and handsome young man, would you care for a picture?" a man looking like an old fashion photographer yelled to them. Annabeth glanced up at Percy, and he swallowed the ice cream quickly.

"You got money?" he asked.

"You seriously want to?"

"Well you gave me that look…"

"What look?"

"That look you always get when you expect something from me."

"…I have a look that I always get when I'm-"

Percy sighed, cutting her off. "I'll pay."

-x-

"No Claire, you can't meet him…because he's not even here!" Rachel almost yelled into her cell phone. Claire babbled on the other end.

"Claire, it's just-" she was interrupted again, by a different call coming in.

"Gotta go Claire. Call you later." she said over the girl on the other end, and looked at the incoming call.

It was her father again.

"Yes dad?" she said stiffly as she answered it.

As her father went on and on about that they were having guests tonight for dinner and that she had to be home in time and blah blah blah, she saw a ice cream stand out of the corner of her eye.

Her stomach growled, complaining of no nutrition for the past few hours of searching.

_Oh fine._ She thought harshly to her stomach. She headed for the stand, placing her phone between her shoulder and ear.

"Ok dad. I'll be home in…three hours? Ok. See you then." she pressed end.

"Can I help you?" the boy in the stand asked. A layer of sweat covered his brow, from being in an enclosed space for hours on such a nice day, even with the refrigerated inside of the booth. Rachel almost felt guilty ordering.

"Um, yeah. How about, a small rocky road?" the boy nodded and turned to get her order.

Rachel turned away from the stand, looking out over the small park she'd strolled into.

From across the park she heard a man's voice yell, "You there, pretty lady, and handsome young man, would you care for a picture?"

-x-

"Awwwwww…they bought ice cream!" Thalia crooned, clasping her hands together as if in prayer.

"Thalia, please. You don't have to swoon over everything they do. It's not even your date!" Nico stated simple, laying on his back in the bushes.

"Oh come on Nico, you got to admit you're happy about their date too." Grover told him, looking out from a space in the leaves.

"Oh look! They're going to get picture!" Tyson whispered loudly.

"Good! Memories are good! Very good!-"

"Is Rachel supposed to be here?" Tyson questioned pointing out through the little crack he was looking through.

Thalia stopped from her little speech. "WHAAAAAAAAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!" she screamed. Nico pulled her down. The whole park had gone silent.

"Thalia, calm down!"

Thalia scrambled out of Nico's grasp and grabbed the walkie-talkie from Grover's pocket.

"Connor! Travis!" she whispered harshly into the speaker.

"Yello! How can we help you bos-"

"You were supposed to keep an eye on Rachel!" she said tightly.

"Oh…well yeah. We uh…well boss we…"

"Please don't send a lightning strike down on us!"" a same sounding voice came from farther away from the speaker.

"FIX IT!" she shouted in and unhooked her finger from the speaker button.

"Well," she made a motion to flip her hair behind her shoulder, but her hair was too short. "Now we have to watch as Connor and Travis get rid of _her_." she pointed with her thumb over the bushes.

The three boys nodded in unison, faces like marines about to go into battle.

-x-

"Yes. Just in this booth right here. Slip in your coins and pose!" the man said while ushering them into the small, squishy looking booth. He closed the curtain, and Percy and Annabeth were surrounded by darkness.

"So…" Percy whispered. Annabeth was pressed up against him, from being pushed by the camera man. Percy could definitely feel his blush, but he couldn't tell if Annabeth was or not.

_Gods. I'm blushing a lot today…_

"The coins." Annabeth whispered back. She reached in her pocket and felt along the wall in front of them for a slot.

"Here." Percy whispered, just as Annabeth's hand brushed over his. They both froze, tingles rushing up both their arms from their finger tips.

Annabeth shook it off quickly, slipping the coins in. A bright light shone in front of them, and a robotic voice started to count down from three.

They took about seven pictures when the light went off.

"That must've been all it can fit with the coins you put in." Percy whispered. He felt Annabeth nod.

Neither of them moved from their position. She turned her head lightly towards him. She couldn't see him anymore since the light went off, but she could sense him. And he was too close. She could feel her mouth open subconsciously and her breath blew out.

Percy jolted, feeling that Annabeth was so close to him, and felling her breath, smelling of mint chocolate chip. He moved a little closer, could feel the heat of her cheeks wafting to him. Annabeth made a small sound, he didn't know of protest or of confusion, but he kept moving closer to her. Inches away now…

Light flooded in as the curtain was pulled back. "Okee dokee kids! Hope you had fun! Take your pictures out from the slot at the side!" the old fashion photographer grinned at them, the perfectly practiced, attract-customers, extremely fake grin. Percy glowered at them man, and Annabeth shot him a similar look.

"Thank you." she spat, and pulled the pictures out from the said slot. Percy followed along behind, still with a brooding expression.

-x-

"Wha-what happened?" Grover squeaked from his spot in the bushes. After watching ice cream fall all over Rachel's shirt, the four had turned back to Percy and Annabeth to find them storming down the sidewalk, out of the park, away from Rachel, both of them looking ready to murder.

"I don't know. But I might need to interfere again." Thalia tried to sound saddened by the fact, but the grin spread across her face anyway.

"Oh no." The three boys murmured.

A/N: Hooray! Next chapter, and Annabeth and Percy get interrupted _again_!

When will they kiss? Hmmm…

R&R!


	10. Failed Attempt

Percy strode quickly behind Annabeth who hadn't slowed her pace since the park. Her hair blew out behind him, making him smell the peach scent again.

They'd both not said a thing, just stomping back into the deep city, cars now starting their journeys home during rush hour.

_I'm so stupid. Why did I try and-_

Percy almost ran into Annabeth because she'd stopped abruptly. She whirled around to him, her face not the mask of frustration it had been when they'd stumbled out of the photo booth. Her face was now completely calm, though when he looked in her gray eyes, they looked as stormy as dark clouds about to form a tornado.

"What should we do now?" she asked cautiously. Her eyes never left his, which unnerved him, but Percy couldn't make himself look away from them.

"Uh…I don't know. We could just walk." he suggested stupidly. He felt like slapping himself even more now.

She nodded. "Sure. Walk and talk." she agreed. She kept at his pace now, no longer barging through people, shaking her hands impatiently, just walking slowly, Percy's hands in his pockets again.

But they weren't talking. But it wasn't an awkward silence. Just a thoughtful silence. And they were both thinking about the same thing.

Annabeth had finally gotten her heart to slow it's rapid pace. It threatened to jump out of her throat, screaming to everybody that would listen that she loved the boy walking next to her. Her blush had calmed down too. She ran her hand through her hair, trying to comb out snarls that had been put into place by the wind…and partly to hide herself from Percy behind a wall of blonde hair.

Percy felt like beating the crap out of himself, thinking Annabeth thought he was some weirdo, and that she wouldn't want to do this ever again. They would grow even further apart then they'd been before!

_She ran ahead of you. She probably wanted to run away, but didn't want to be rude._

He rolled his eyes and scuffed his shoe against the sidewalk, kicking a random pebble. It went a few feet, and they caught up to it, but Annabeth kicked it back in front of them.

_Well talk to him! Don't be a mute to him!_ Annabeth scolded herself. She pulled the picture slip from her pocket, glancing at them.

"Did you see the pictures?" she asked. Holding the slip out to him. Percy shook his head, and grabbed them.

The first one was just them looking at the camera with shocked faces.

The second was them laughing about the first picture.

The third was actually posed, Annabeth was giving Percy Minotaur horns, while Percy was rolling his eyes.

The fourth was Annabeth grinning hugely, and Percy was laughing again.

The fifth was Percy sticking his tongue out at Annabeth and she looked appalled.

The sixth was Annabeth sticking her tongue out at him back.

The seventh one, the last one was just a nice one, them smiling, _really _smiling at the camera, and Percy's arm seemed to have wound it's way around Annabeth's shoulders.

Percy grinned at the small black and white pictures. "These are pretty good." he commented.

Annabeth grinned like him, "I know. I'll have to make copies so we can both have a slip."

She folded her hands behind her back and walked just a bit ahead of him.

Percy smiled again, slipping the pictures into his pocket.

"Could we go look at those posters over there?" Annabeth looked innocently over her shoulder at him. Percy rolled his eyes and nodded. "Sure. I'd like a few more on my wall anyway."

-x-

"Atagirl! Flirt with him! Lead him on! Good recovery! Any news about what happened in the photo booth?" Thalia added quickly between her cheering.

Nico had to keep a hold on the back of her shirt so she didn't hop up and start dancing from their hiding place.

Grover looked down at the cell phone they all designated to this mission. "Nope. No news from Connor and Travis."

Thalia didn't even seem to care about the answer to her own question.

Across the street, Percy was looking at posters of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. Annabeth turned through posters of recent movies and CDs on the opposite side. She suddenly popped out into Percy's side showing him a CD. Percy started laughing and abandoned the poster to go look at the CD in Annabeth's hands.

Thalia squealed like a fan girl, which she was of Percy and Annabeth, and landed on her knees again.

"So what's happening now?" she asked again. Grover repeated the message, and still Thalia's happy expression didn't waver.

"Ok!" she shrugged happily.

Nico looked at her with a strange look, shook his head and looked seriously back at all of them, though Tyson was distracted again, watching ants march in a line back to their ant hill. "Now. What's your brilliant idea Thalia?" he addressed.

Thalia looked at him, her smile still bright. "You'll see!" she sang. Tyson started crawling, following the ants.

"Oh, hey big guy?" Grover tried to get Tyson's attention. Tyson looked back reluctantly.

"Yes goat boy?" he asked.

"Just stay over here." he pulled Tyson back by his arm. Tyson plopped down, crossing his legs.

"Thalia. How can we help you with the plan if you don't tell us?" Nico asked her impatiently.

Thalia turned towards him. "Because I haven't even thought of it yet!"

"WHAT?" the boys looked at her unbelieving.

"I'll think of it when the opportune moment shows up to put it in action!" she whispered to them, turning back to Percy and Annabeth.

"Great. This'll be fun." Nico groaned, and leaned against the tree trunk, closing his eyes, listening to Tyson whistling exactly like the birds.

-x-

Rachel sighed sadly, looking out of her dimmed car window, holding her phone in her pocket. Her father had ordered her back the millionth time he'd called. The driver turned the radio to a station of instrumental music.

Rachel rolled her eyes at the back of the driver's seat, and looked back out the window, passing food vendors, and clothes vendors.

The car was moving so fast that she only saw a blur of the back of the heads of a boy with black hair, and a girl with brown hair laughing at something.

She sighed. _That could've been me and Percy today. Laughing together, spending the day…_

She looked down at her phone, pressing buttons to go through her applications, going through her calls, and looked at the unanswered call she'd made to Percy.

She exited that and looked back up to the sky.

_He's just busy. I'll get to hang out with him later._ She reassured herself.

She closed her eyes, her head still leaning towards the sky.

-x-

"I'm buying this one! I seriously am!" Annabeth said still giggling slightly. Percy's face was red from laughing so hard, and he just nodded to her.

After buying the CD, they both went on walking, occasionally talking, but mostly just looking at their surroundings.

"I have to do something!" Thalia whispered to herself, even though the boys around her could hear her.

Nico sighed again, still looking like he was sleeping against the tree. "You said that about five minutes ago. And do you have a plan? N-"

"I'm working on it, I'm working on it!" She retorted angrily.

She looked around the street hurriedly, looking at every couple, every family, every person walking their dog, _everyone._

Then right in front of her eyes, right outside the bushes, a little girl, maybe not even three years old, was walking behind her parents, and she fell over her feet.

The girl didn't cry, she just looked shocked that she was suddenly on the ground. Her mother cooed to her as she picked her back up, hugging her close.

A light bulb went off. "That's it!" Thalia almost jumped up again, but all three boys grabbed the back of her shirt. (They'd seemed to be doing that a lot today…)

"Do you finally have a plan?" Nico asked.

Thalia nodded enthusiastically. "The best plan yet."

Percy and Annabeth sat down on a bench in a shady area, in a _different_ park than before.

_I doubt either of us will ever go back to there._

Annabeth leaned her head back, closing her eyes. Percy snuck a peak, seeing how the sun washed her face, making it shine even more than before, and her hair was almost sparkling.

"Whatcha lookin at Seaweed Brain?" she questioned, eyes still closed.

Percy smiled, "Nothin Wise Girl." he replied. Annabeth giggled lightly.

Percy stood up from the spot, spreading his arms out like flying to stretch them out.

Annabeth went to stand up too. Percy turned away from her at the worst moment, and she started falling forward into the busy street. Annabeth didn't really notice the danger until she only saw black tar in her vision. She opened her mouth to scream, but then felt strong arms around her waist, pulling her back. They knocked the wind out of her, but she was falling backwards now, thank the gods.

Percy's landing was not soft. The back of his head hit the bench as he went down, and falling on his back on the concrete of the sidewalk doubled with Annabeth's weight on his. He let out a groan when he landed, feeling like he'd broken his back. Annabeth wriggled in his arms, turning around to face him.

_Just like in the photo booth…_ her mind whispered.

They were too close, the only thing filling Annabeth's vision now was green eyes, and those green eyes were swimming with…something she couldn't name.

His arms tightened without Percy telling them to around her waist. Her gray eyes widened never leaving his. Her hands were spread out on his chest. She blushed when she figured she was almost straddling him.

Everyone just kept on walking by, paying them no heed.

Again, subconsciously, Percy moved closer.

_He's going to…_ Annabeth's thoughts were drained, cleared of anything but Percy.

Annabeth couldn't tell you still today why she did what she did next. She pulled her legs up onto her knees, and pushed on his chest to bring herself up and away from him. Her blush was the worst it'd been that day.

Percy lie there for a moment, feeling the coldness physical and mental, of her rejection. He stood up slower than she had, and tried to catch her eye, but she purposefully looked over at the bushes across the street which seemed to be shaking in the same anger Annabeth felt.

"Anna-"

"It's getting late. I should be getting home now." she said, her voice like an icicle.

Percy stepped back, took a deep breath, and shook his head.

_Well done idiot. You blew it._

"Sure. Let's get back to the car." he said, starting to walk back to the café. Annabeth looked at the sun setting, feeling the tingles settle all over her body. She wiped away the lone tear making it's way down the highway of her cheek, and turned to slowly follow behind Percy.

-x-

"Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!" Thalia gripped the bush, shaking the branches.

Percy whirled around, walking away from Annabeth, and Thalia could see the shine of light on her cheek, but she wiped it away quickly, falling into step behind him.

"Well. That was _definitely _the best plan yet." Nico said mockingly.

Thalia held her face in her hands and banged her forehead.

"I ruined it." she mumbled.

None of the three boys spoke up to prove her wrong.


	11. The Ultimate Goal

The car ride back to Queens was the worst thing possible. Percy was angry at himself, and stared stonily out the windshield, his hands held the steering wheel so tightly, his knuckles were white, and his hands would be shaking if he didn't hold it so tightly.

Annabeth had her arms crossed tightly across her chest and stared at her knees. Not a word had been spoken, and the CD Annabeth had bought was sitting beside her, the band members smiling up at her. She glared back.

They were across the bridge now, and Annabeth couldn't stand the silence anymore. Percy didn't even notice when Annabeth reached out to turn the radio on. Though he did jump when the music started playing.

He looked at the radio for a second, then up at Annabeth who was looking out the window. He sighed and turned quickly looked back at the road. He wanted to talk to her, wanted to apologize, for being an ignorant idiot. Maybe he'd call her…then he could talk to her without actually looking at her…

_Do you think she'd even take the call after today?_ The annoying voice told him. Percy couldn't imagine that. What if Annabeth just disappeared…never talked to him again.

He literally shuddered, and the first quiet words broke the silence. "Are you cold?" Annabeth whispered.

Percy looked shocked at her for a second, then shook his head, clearing his throat, recovering. It was about time.

"Uh, no. But if you are then-"

"Oh no. I'm not. I just thought you were."

"Well, thanks. But I'm not."

"Oh."

The silence reclaimed the car, with only the light beat of the drum of the song playing in the background.

_Back to the drawing board._ Annabeth groaned internally. She looked out the window again, to find them in a neighborhood. They were in the suburbs already. She'd be home soon. And Percy would be gone. Their time together had flown by. She was saddened at the fact of Percy leaving again, that she probably wouldn't see him until camp again. It upset her, and she had to fight to keep the tears back.

_What is my problem? I keep crying about the stupidest things!_ she scolded herself.

The DJ talked for awhile on the radio, then another song started to play. Annabeth knew the song, but she didn't pay attention to it, until the refrain played, and made her think of Percy:

_Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?_

_Why can't I speak whenever I think about you?_

_It's inevitable, it's a fact that we're gonna get down to it, _

_So tell me_

_Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?_

She reached out and turned the knob that made the song turn off. She felt Percy's questioning eyes on her, but she looked back out the window, watching all of the houselights zoom by.

They turned onto a different street, and all of the sudden it was familiar.

"It's not far." she whispered, but she knew Percy heard it.

He eased up on the gas pedal, wanting to prolong the time, make it freeze. Or even better, go back to this afternoon, in the photo booth.

_The photo booth. The pictures._ He remembered. One hand came off the steering wheel to rest against his pocket, where the slip of the two of them making goofy faces and smiles sat.

It was kind of scary that that moment was already a memory. It was already history.

_Anything you and Annabeth had is history._ the annoying voice said again.

Is it possible to punch a voice in your head? Percy clenched the hand on the steering wheel tighter.

He turned onto another road, and a whisper came from Annabeth's side of the car again.

"Fourth on the left."

Percy looked over at the house she'd indicated. It was pretty, and big. He couldn't tell exactly what the color was since the sun had set awhile ago, but it looked to be white, or a cream color.

He pulled into the driveway and took the key out of the ignition. They both just sat there for a long moment, neither of them wanting Annabeth to go inside just yet.

_What do I say?_ Ran through both their heads.

Finally, when the glowing green numbers on the radio switched to 8:00, Percy threw the keys up and caught them again, much like he'd been doing with the baseball the other night in his room.

"Well. I'll walk you to the door?" it came out as a question.

Annabeth's gray eyes flickered to him and stayed on his face, trying to memorize the curves and angles.

Both their faces were shadowed until the lights came on in the driveway, and both heads snapped forward.

"Yeah. That'd be nice." Annabeth said in a small voice, much unlike Annabeth Chase. If she were the real Annabeth Chase right now, she'd be confidently walking up to the porch, hand in hand with Percy, and they'd be making plans to see each other next weekend.

But unfortunately, that Annabeth, was curled up in a little ball at the very bottom of her heart.

They stepped up onto the porch simultaneously, and turned to look at the other. Annabeth couldn't figure out the emotion in Percy's eyes, just like when they had…when he'd caught her from falling.

"W-well, uh, I'll see you later I guess. We should do this again sometime." Percy stammered.

_Sure. She'll go right for it. _Percy was really getting annoyed with this voice…

Annabeth nodded, looking down at the "WELCOME" mat in front of her door.

"Yeah. Well…see ya." she murmured.

But they didn't move. Percy never took his gaze off of Annabeth and Annabeth stared at the ground.

Then the porch light came on.

"Annabeth? Is that you?" Mr. Chase's voice calls from inside.

"Yes." Annabeth called back. You could hear some rustling inside, then the door opened.

Mr. Chase stood with Adrian behind him.

"Hello Percy." he nodded to the tall black haired boy.

Adrian looked troubled, seeing how the two were avoiding eye contact, and standing as far away from each other as the porch would allow.

She interrupted what her husband was about to say. "Well, you just come in ok? But come on Fredrick, we should go make popcorn for the movie!" and she dragged him away from the door, into the kitchen.

Percy and Annabeth stayed frozen again, both seeming to be processing things slowly at the moment.

Annabeth finally took in a breath, and forced out her normal voice instead of the low murmur, "Ok them. Bye." and she started in the house, still not looking at him.

This time, a different voice sounded in his head. It sounded like…

_Percy! Now's your chance! Just grab her before she gets away! Go!_

"Annabeth."

He reached out and fastened his hand on her wrist, and pulled her back to him. Her eyes looked at him confusedly, but he ignored it. He slipped his other hand around her waist, and brought her close, against his chest.

_This is it…_

He covered her lips wit his, something he'd been dreaming about for a long time. Annabeth froze, her eyes wide open. Percy's scent filled her nose, reminding her of outside…no. The beach. He smelled like a beach.

She recovered quickly, and brought her arms up around his neck, playing with the short hair in the back. He pulled her closer if possible, now gripping her waist. One hand slid up her side, to hold her neck.

Annabeth was hesitant at first, just kissing him back lightly. But Percy wouldn't stand for that. He tried to bring it out of her, asking for entrance to her mouth. The tingles were now everywhere, making her skin burn wherever Percy touched her. He held her so gently…

She sighed, and Percy took advantage of that. Annabeth tightened her arms around his neck, and let her tongue do a bit of exploring of it's own.

The kiss got more needy, Percy's hands sliding around her back, and her side, and waist, and into her hair…

Annabeth's knees went weak, and Percy was holding her up.

Finally, after what seemed hours, Percy pulled away lightly. Annabeth stayed there, eyes still closed. Percy pecked her lips one more time, placing small kisses over her face, her ear, going down the side of her neck, just lightly. Not needy, just cute little butterfly kisses.

Annabeth's hands slid to Percy's chest and pushed back half-heartedly, just putting only about a small two inches between their warm bodies, noses still touching.

She looked expectantly up at Percy, her gray eyes a bit hazy. Percy's were clouded over, but it wasn't a haze, it was wanting.

She didn't asked why he did it.

But he gave her an answer anyway. "I love you Wise Girl."

Annabeth's heart just about exploded. She moved her hands to hang around his neck again, and kissed his nose.

"I love you Seaweed Brain."

Percy's grin almost blinded her.

-x-

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU! My plan worked! It worked it worked it worked!" Thalia danced around the park across from Annabeth's house.

Nico looked at her incredulously. "What do you mean you told us your plan worked? You were the one who was saying 'I ruined it!' just a few hours ago!" he yelled. Thalia stopped dancing, and glared at Nico.

"Don't make me hurt you Death Boy." she said dangerously.

"Bring it on Lightning Girl." Nico urged her. They stood in front of each other, fists clenched and breathing hard.

Grover and Tyson sat on the jungle gym, staring happily at the couple across the street.

"Good job Percy." Grover nodded in approval of his best friend.

Tyson rested his head on his hands, sighing dreamily. "So romantic." he whispered.

Grover pulled out a digital camera, focused it and snapped a picture.

Thalia and Nico froze, both looked excited. "Black mail?" they asked excitedly at the same time.

"NO! It's for Juniper since she couldn't come!" Grover glared disapprovingly at the Nico and Thalia, who had their hands on each other's throats.

"I don't think it was any plan. Percy and Annabeth found love on their own." Tyson said in a voice that matched his dreamy look.

The other three turned to stare at Tyson with looks of disbelieving.

-x-

"YES! GOOD JOB M'BOY!" Poseidon cheered, punching the air.

Athena clapped her hands excitedly looking with wide, happy eyes at the screen of her daughter kissing the son of Poseidon.

Aphrodite looked shocked. "I thought you two would be in a rage! Storming around and yelling at each other like there's no tomorrow!"

"That's Ares' job." Athena said without looking away from the screen.

"But you two hate each other!" Aphrodite yelled.

"No. we just disagree. We don't get along very well." Poseidon said calmly in the middle of his victory dance.

Aphrodite stared at her relatives.

"Huh? Then you should be raging still! Your children are making out!" she screamed.

"Well Aphrodite, that is the outcome of my daughter winning!" Athena said simply.

Poseidon froze from doing a disco move. "Excuse me? Your daughter won? My son won!"

"Oh no Poseidon, my daughter was crafty enough to tempt your son to kiss her."

"Now Athena, Percy kissed Annabeth because he wanted to. Not because your daughter tempted him-"

The two gods went on argueing about which of their children had "won".

Aphrodite watched them with a blank look for a minute, then turned back to the screen in time to hear,

"I love you Seaweed Brain."

The goddess of love couldn't help smiling to herself.

_Looks like your love story turned out pretty good little hero._

-x-

"Yes Percy! I'll see you next week!" Annabeth laughed into her cell phone. She was laying on her bed, winding a strand of hair around her finger.

"I know, but-"

"I know you love me."

"That's not what I was going to say."

"Yes you were."

"Well that was going to pop out sometime in the conversation, but not at that moment. Right now, I was going to say, do you want to stay in Queens for the movie, or here?"

"Oh! Um…well we were in Manhattan last week, so how about here."

"That works."

"Alright, I'll see you then."

"Ok. Bye, love you."

"Love you too!"

They pressed the end button at the same time.

Percy walked into the kitchen for dinner, sitting down and digging in right away.

"Oh look at my little boy. How does it feel not to be single anymore?" Sally teased her son. Percy looked out the window, at the sun setting over Manhattan.

"Pretty good."

A/N: THAT'S IT! It's done! Thank you for all of the reviews. I love you all!

They finally kissed! ::does little dance::

Now, stay tuned though, because I will be posting a bonus preview of my next Percabeth fanficiton! Hope you enjoyed the read!

R&R!


	12. BONUS PREVIEW!

A/N: Hello everybody! Here's the preview I promised!

Title: That's What You Get

Summary: Annabeth is miserable, and sick in bed. Percy is volunteered to take care of her. What could go wrong? Well, knowing our Seaweed Brain and Wise Girl…a lot.

"I want chicken dumpling soup." Annabeth croaked, scowl still in place and arms still crossed. Percy turned back around from the door,

"I thought you weren't talking." He retorted.

Annabeth's scowl deepened. "I want soup." was all she said.

Percy looked up at the ceiling, exasperated. "Listen Wise Girl, I was hired to take care of you. So do what I sa-"

"I'm the patient. Shouldn't you be waiting on _me_?" She questioned, sounding innocent while batting her eyelashes at him. He groaned and stomped down the steps loudly. Annabeth smiled to herself smugly, and snuggled back into her warm, flannel sheets.

Percy stormed into the kitchen, opening the bottom cabinet of the pantry. He rummaged around, looking for a can of chicken dumpling. He popped open the cap once he found one.

As he poured it into a pan he mumbled something to himself like "Stupid Wise Girl…thinks she's in charge of the world…stupid."

She really had to ruin his spring break like that didn't she?

_You volunteered…_

_Oh shut up._ He snapped up at his mind, if that was even possible.

"I'm waiting Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth's cracking voice came from upstairs. He scowled up at the ceiling towards her, and went back to his mumbling and stomping around, making her chicken dumpling soup.

A/N: Ok, a given, not the best preview ever, but I'm excited to write it!

Now a lot of people have been asking for a sequel to Words To Me…well let's just say I'm thinking about it…


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